I absolutely adore P's guitar riff in the beginning, so badass! You completely forget that the song is political in nature. Who would have thought politics could be so funky! :l

DarlingNikki1025 said:

Have you heard 1999? or "Ronnie, Talk 2 Russia"? That album, and the song, are funky, and quite political.

Tis a very politically conservative song.

And I love it.

LinnLM1 said:

How do you figure it's conservative? I can't figure out what he's trying to say... not that it matters, the song rocks verily.

I absolutly love America 12"

I love the Extended 21:46 version!





those Around The World In A Day 12 inches.. just WOW!

those were the days ....

credits.... pics are from:
http://sleevographia2.fre...0DEU11.htm

LinnLM1 said:

I have always thought America was an anti-conservative / liberal song. It sure has "social awareness" or whatever that is called in english....

thedance said:

I agree completely. They're just ..

billymeade said:

Well, Prince himself described the song as "straightforwardly patriotic" back in the day.

Then there's:

"Communism is just a word/
But if the government turn over/
It'll be the only word that's heard"

That's a straight up anti-Commie sentiment. The John Birch Society could have written it.

The refrain is clearly pro-America:
"America, America
God shed His grace on thee
America, America
Keep the children free"

The there's the "Jimmy Nothing" verse:

"Jimmy Nothing never went to school
They made him pledge allegiance
He said it wasn't cool
Nothing made Jimmy proud
Now Jimmy lives on a mushroom cloud"

Jimmy is not patriotic and skips school and how does he pay for that? He ends up on a frickin' mushroom cloud.

^Yeah, it's pretty much squarely in the Reagan '80s conservative Cold War-era mindset.

thedance said:

YES !!! Agree !! What a good idea to take some of the characters on the LP cover and to put them, bigger, on the 12 inches, I could have took more of them !!!!

Didn't work for Paisley park though...still I love this cover !

yankem said:

Every character in the songs is on the album cover. Genius idea.

ernestsewell said:

That's true !

ernestsewell said:

I always looked at 1999 & Ronnie Talk 2 Russia as well as Party Up along the same lines. Not so political-social as America but still. 1999 & Ronnie Talk 2... come across as more apocolytic,

yankem said:

the Paisley Park image should have either been the girl on the seasaw or the old man crying

OldFriends4Sale said:

Absolutely !

yankem said:

I still have this album(not cd or MP3...I mean I do have those 2) but I have the original I bought in 85, pure art. I remember just being lost in the colors words and images

When I first heard "America" i didn't like it; it was probably because i was just getting into Prince and couldn't fully appreciate the song. Now I love it! great lyrics and energy.

the single covers are fantastic too.

The live version is waaaaay better than the album version. My Gawd...2 funky Eric Leeds and Eddie's horn arrangements are priceless. And then Wendy, in the "America" video...man Prince and Wendy 2gether, like in the video "Kiss" were a powerful force during that time period...man, I miss the 85/86 Revolution!

OldFriends4Sale said:

How about the boy with the balloon?

NouveauDance said:

He wasn't mentioned in the song though, was he?

I always thought the cover should have been Paisley Park (the one on the cover) without anyone in it. Like it was deserted, or no one had shown up yet. It'd be weird to have a crying person on the first single to an album, so the old woman or old man might not have worked. Perhaps the girl on the see saw would be the best choice.

i dont remember going much on this song, but appreciate it better now, it's so punchy and cynical, i love the energy and the Wooooos.
freedom! love! joy! peace!

PurpleJane said:

It's not cynical at all. Cynical lends to believing the worst of human nature and motives or having a sneering disbelief in others. The song is more about the ills and troubles of humanity. Like many Prince songs (like "1999", "Ronnie Talk 2 Russia", and others), it heavily references nuclear war, Communism. There's no cynicism in that.

NouveauDance said:

Hey ! That's my avatar !!!!

ernestsewell said:

I thought the old guy was referenced in the song, definately the girl on the seasaw would be my choice though

Paisley Park was released as 1st single outside the US?

NouveauDance said:

Yeah I like that one too

It would have been cool to have that boy-balloon flying over a much smaller version of the album cover...

I don't think that it was the first one...(I don't really remember, can't be sure).

Aaron6 said:

lol love it

when I saw that video I saw people who had just conquered the world ...Purple Reign
the connection the confidence, it was just high, I loved that video

OldFriends4Sale said:

Shot in Nice, France, if I remember correctly...and yes, it kicked ass with Eddie and Eric on sax!!!!! Frenzy !!!!